Apparently the device is "in very high demand and is selling fast" a Harrods spokesperson told Phone Arena. Considering it costs £1,275, we guess not everyone is having such a tough time of it at the moment.

So is it a triumph of style over substance? Well it kind of looks that way to be honest. It runs the BlackBerry 7 OS, so bad luck if you were hoping for a BlackBerry 10 handset (or BBX, as it was christened). Inside is a single-core 1.2GHz processor, 768MB of RAM, and 8GB storage. Image-wise, you'll get a 5-megapixel camera on the back with 720p HD video recording.

Oh, and there's Near Field Communication technology for wireless data transfers with other devices. Not bad specs, but for that price we'd expect some kind of teleportation device. Obviously there are people want this kind of phone though, and being the kind to shop at Harrods, they are more than willing to pay for it.

T3 broke news last week that the luxury handset would be exclusive to the Knightsbridge retailer. If you don't want to drop over a grand on this phone, you can always get the cheaper BlackBerry Bold 9900, which is essentially the same handset with a more basic exterior.

In these cash-strapped times, are the days of luxury phones numbered ? Nokia recently sold its Vertu line of high-end rebadged handsets, so maybe the times they are a changin'. Perhaps though some people will always pay more for an exclusive handset no matter what the price. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, or over on our Facebook page.